I have a 2012 Rubicon and I've been meaning to strengthen the front end for a while now. I finally have some time and all of the parts together. I thought I would document the process and get feedback.

What I have planned:
- Axle sleeves - Nitro
- New ball joints - Synergy
- C gussets - Teraflex
- Axle Truss - Rockrawler
- New tie rod - Synergy
- Drag link flip and new drag link - Synergy
- New front driveshaft
- New differential covers front and rear - Solid

...and some odds and ends.

I started yesterday in my shop by putting the JK up on stands and getting the front axle torn down. I wanted to start with the sleeves since I needed to leave the axle on the Jeep in order to hammer the sleeves in. After they are in, I'll remove the axle completely to facilitate the other installs.

I went ahead and made my own Nitro sleeve driver from 6061 aluminum:



I started with a solid 6" plug and 3 hours of machining later, I had the perfect sleeve driver:


I took that and copied a tool I had seen on Youtube made of some simple square tube with a steel striker plate for the hammer:


The sleeves sat in my shop's freezer for a week so with a buddies help and about 10 minutes they went in perfectly:


Next up are the ball joints.

- S

 

Update on the build. I got sidetracked for a couple of weeks with work;

After I got the Nitro sleeves in, I removed the front axle (since I was going to adjust the caster anyways) and started to work on the Teraflex C-gussets:


Got everything welded in (taking my time):


Then I removed the factory trackbar bracket (PoS) to replace it with the Synergy one:


Steve

 

Looks great! Slow and steady wins the race.

 

Then I started on the Rockrawler Axle Truss:


Finished putting in the Synergy trackbar bracket and the driver's side swaybar mount to work with the newly relocated one on the bracket:


Installed Synergy Control Arm skids and cleaned and painted:


Steve

 

How it sits now; got my Solid cover installed:


Tonight I tackle the Synergy ball joints, putting it back in the vehicle, adjusting my arm, and reassembly of the knuckles, axles, etc..

Steve

 

Nice weld job, can't wait to see the finish product

 

Nice job looks great!

 

Nice job! I'm definitely subscribed!

 

Thanks everyone. I hope to have it wrapped up this week.

Steve

 

Nice machining job on that sleeve driver. Looks like it cost a bit though. I would have assumed that with the freezing of the sleeves, they should have pretty much slid in with little effort or at worst, with a block of wood and a medium hammer. How easy did they go in by the way?